BBC Norfolk Profiles Radiophonic Workshop’s Brian Hodgson

We all know the noise, I have it as the message tone on my phone and seeing others recognise it in public is priceless.

Yes, I’m talking about the TARDIS sound effect. Regularly described in the target novels as a wheezing, groaning sound it is one of the most iconic pieces of audio in not just Doctor Who, but in pop culture in general.

So it seems only fitting that in the biggest year of the shows history that special tribute should be paid to the man who gave us that noise, Brian Hodgson. In a new interview with the BBC Norfolk website, Brian describes the process of creating the sound.

“It was quite difficult as everybody knew rockets went ‘bang, whoosh’ – but what does a time machine do?”

“It doesn’t go up, it doesn’t go down, it goes everywhere at once. The thing I had in my mind was that it should be coming and going, and very vague.”

The interview also touches on Brians work in the creation of the voice of the Daleks, which it seems came from a past job.

“I’d done a voice treatment for a rather posh robot in a radio play called Sword From The Stars… So when the Dalek thing came up I thought the modulation thing will probably work as it will grate, but we needed an actor to do the voice, so we got Peter Hawkins in.”

The full article has some fascinating insights into the work done by Brian, and the rest of the Radiophonic Workshop and is definatly worth a read, just remember to come back here when your done and give us your thoughts. Do you think people like Brian get enough credit for the part they played in the genesis of the show? Should there have been more attention paid to the Radiophonic Workshop during the 50th celebrations?